WICHITA — Allen County Community College’s Red Devil men were right in the thick of their Region VI quarterfinal game Saturday. They were within four points of Cowley County Community College’s Tigers in the second half.
The Red Devils trailed 45-41 with 15:20 left in the game before Tigers went on a 16-2 run that Allen County could not recover from. The Red Devils lost 93-79 at Koch Arena.
On Sunday, Seward County defeated Cowley County 71-67 in the semifinals. Coffeyville downed Hutchinson 68-58.
Tonight’s Region VI championship game is between Seward County (27-6) and Coffeyville (29-4). Tipoff is at 8 o’clock following the women’s championship game between Hutchinson (30-2) and Cloud County (24-7).
The winners advance to the NJCAA Division I national tournaments — women in Salina and the men in Hutchinson — next week.
Allen County came back from a 5-0 deficit to lead 17-15 with 12 minutes left in the first half. By the midway mark, the teams were tied 22-22 but Keevis Tukes and Terrell Shears were in foul trouble for Allen County.
Cowley County held a 38-33 halftime lead.
Allen County’s 6-2 sophomore Jason Smith, who led the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 24 points per game, fired in 33 points. Smith was 11 of 11 from the free-throw line.
Smith also earned Jayhawk Eastern Division second-team honors. He had eight rebounds and four assists in his final game with ACCC.
Tukes, a 6-4 sophomore, netted five three-pointers for the Red Devils. He finished with 17 points. Shears, a 6-7 freshman, had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds plus had three steals.
The Tigers were red hot from the field in the second half, 64 percent, as they finished the game shooting at a 53-percent clip, 35 of 66. They also were 15 of 23 from the free-throw line.
Allen County shot 42 percent, 27 of 64, from the field. The Red Devils were 19 of 25 from the line.
Cowley was led by Dominick Cornelius with 23 points as he hit five threes. James Watson tossed in 14 points. Tyrus McGee chipped in with 12 and Kamren Belin had 10 points.
The Red Devils finished at 8-23 for the season.
Allen County (33-46—79) (FG/3-pt); Hollis 3/1-0-2-9, Smith 11-11-3-33, Tukes 1/5-0-4-17, Kelly 1-2-1-4, Shears 3-5-4-11, Daniel 2-1-4-5. TOTALS: 21/6-19-18-79.
Cowley County (38-55—93) (FG/3-pt): Patton 1-0-3-2, Cornelius 3/5-2-2-23, Nelson 2-0-2-4, Watson 6-2-2-14, Hobbs 1-2-0-4, Jones 3-1-4-7, Wakefield 0-4-0-4, McGee 1/3-1-4-12, White 1-0-0-2, Belin 4-2-2-10, Marshal 1-0-0-2, Kemp 4-1-1-9, Brown 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 27/8-15-22-93.
Cowley County ousts ACCC from playoffs
